The 135 will be my first BMW purchase....I know standard basic warranty is 4-50....I have a friend who's 2000 750 pretty much fell apart on him, so he just bought a new A8L...I know there is much anecdotal evidence of BMWs mechanical superiority and durability, but I plan on giving this car to my kid just as the basic 4/50 warranty expires....

1) I've never purchased an extended warranty for any car, but what are your feelings about them?

2) for those of you who have purchased one, what term and how much extra did it cost?

3) Is this a warranty that I would assume simply extends the "bumper to bumper" warranty (4/50) without any caveats?

Normally not worthwhile. They are typically covered by third-party warranty companies and the coverages vary. May not necessarily reflect the same covereage as the factory warranty, and deductibles may apply.

you have a couple of options on extended warranties. as emm3tt said, you can go with a third party warranty company, which have there own limitations.

you can certify your car with bmw which extends the warranty to 6/100, basically the warranty a certified preowned bmw has.

with both warranty options it will not cover everything the new car warranty covers. the certified warranty does not cover such items as interior trims and suspension components, but it will cover all powertrain and electrical components. also there is a 50 deductible for all certified warranty repairs.

i may be wrong but the cost of certifiying your car is around 2 grand give or take depending on your vehicle.

in addition to these warranties you can extend your maintenance warranty on bmw. normal coverage is 4/50 but you can extend it to 6/100 and this covers all your wearable items and all your fluid services. extending the maintenance warranty will set you back around 1500, again give or take depending on you vehicle. of course tires are never covered by any of these warranties.

The extended maintenance warranty pretty much pays for itself when you consider how much it costs to take your car to the dealership for maintenance.

I got it on my wife's car, but not on mine. I like to mod my cars, and do most of the maintenance myself...so it didn't make so much sense for me. Good for the wife though, she can get a loaner while her car is being worked on.

Just to point out the obvious, extended warranty is basically an insurance. The price you pay for one will alway be higher than the average cost of maintanance for that vehicle for that period of time, whatever the coverage is.

So I doubt if there's a clean cut answer. If you ask someone who had a car that was less relaible than the average, he/she will tell you that it's totally worth the money, but if you ask someone who had a fairly reliable car he/she will tell you that it's a waste of money. If you ask the warranty company, and they'll tell you it's good business.

I think I would consider buying one from a third party company, just because I like that peace of mind. But by doing so I would be spending more than I have to on average.

There are two different warranties mentioned above. He asked about extended warranty which covers failures. Others have mentioned extended maintanence warranty which covers wear and tear. They aren't combined into one package or are they?

There are two different warranties mentioned above. He asked about extended warranty which covers failures. Others have mentioned extended maintanence warranty which covers wear and tear. They aren't combined into one package or are they?

They are two different warranties. The Extended Warranty covers failures to certain systems, and warrantied repairs require a $50 deductible payment. It's just like the Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) warranty.

The maintenance warranty extends the 50K free maintenance period to 100K.

If you go for Extended WARRANTY, wait til your OEM warranty period (4 yrs) is about to expire and then get it if you want.
I put an additional 3 years extended warranty on my Z4 last year prior to the expiration of my initial 4 yr OEM warranty period and I'm glad I did. Cost me about 2 Gs - Good peace of mind and will probably be worth something to the next owner when I sell her next year (getting the 128i Cabrio).

If you go for Extended WARRANTY, wait til your OEM warranty period (4 yrs) is about to expire and then get it if you want.
I put an additional 3 years extended warranty on my Z4 last year prior to the expiration of my initial 4 yr OEM warranty period and I'm glad I did. Cost me about 2 Gs - Good peace of mind and will probably be worth something to the next owner when I sell her next year (getting the 128i Cabrio).

I got an impression that it is much cheaper if you buy the same warranty product (3 year from the expiration of the manufacturer warranty, for example) when the car is brand new, no?